Pardeep Singh Bendangwapang Ao Anamika Yadav   Editors Global Climate Change and Environmental Refugees Nature, Framework and Legality Global Climate Change and Environmental Refugees · · Pardeep Singh Bendangwapang Ao Anamika Yadav Editors Global Climate Change and Environmental Refugees Nature, Framework and Legality Editors Pardeep Singh Bendangwapang Ao Department of Environmental Studies Centre for African Studies PGDAV College, University of Delhi Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, India New Delhi, India Anamika Yadav Centre for Science and Environment New Delhi, India ISBN 978-3-031-24832-0 ISBN 978-3-031-24833-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24833-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Contents 1 Aftermath of Calamities on Migration .......................... 1 Deepmala Ghosh 2 Historical Evolution of Climate Refugee Concepts ................ 19 Anurag Mishra and Shashvat Singh 3 Major Impact of Global Climate Change in Atmospheric, Hydrospheric and Lithospheric Context ......................... 35 Monika Yadav, Hardik Giri Gosai, Gurudatta Singh, Abhilaksha Singh, Arvind Kumar Singh, Ravindra Pratap Singh, and R. N. Jadeja 4 Drivers of Climate Migration ................................... 57 Abhay Punia, Ravindra Pratap Singh, and Nalini Singh Chauhan 5 Climate Change, Gender and Traditional Livelihoods: Some Reflections from India ......................................... 77 Pushpa Singh 6 Forced Migration of Farmers in Eco-City: The Investigation of Environmental Justice in New Chandigarh .................... 91 Anupreet Singh Tiwana 7 Climate Change Induced Migration with Special Emphasis on the Coastal Zones in India ................................... 105 Sangita Agarwal and Tathagata Deb 8 Climate Change and Farmers-Pastoralists Conflict in Nigeria: A Development-Centered Analysis .............................. 121 Unyime-Young Mfon 9 Analysing Climate Migration Dynamics in the Caribbean Through the Iota Hurricane: Shock Doctrine, Capitalism of Disasters and Development .................................. 137 Esteban Gutiérrez-Sánchez-Salamanca v vi Contents 10 Climate Refugees: Arriving at a Possible Framework ............. 185 Sumedha Chatterjee 11 Parameters for the Study of Climate Refugees ................... 199 Seda Yıldırım, Seda H. Bostancı, and Durmu¸sÇag˘rı Yıldırım 12 Exploring Legal Avenues for the Protection of Environmental Migrants Through a Rights Lens ............................... 215 Ishan Chauhan and Harshdeep Singh Bedi 13 Internally Displaced Persons and the Right-Based Approach: An Inquiry into the Legal Platforms of the African Union ......... 235 Bendangwapang Ao and Namrata Saha 14 Climate-Induced Migration in the WIO Countries and Its Regional Implication .......................................... 251 Samir Bhattacharya Chapter 1 Aftermath of Calamities on Migration Deepmala Ghosh Abstract Climate change has a catastrophic impact on communities’ lives and liveli- hoods all over the world. Every part of the world is experiencing the effects of climate change, including heat waves, severe rains, floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones. People have been compelled to migrate to other locations in pursuit of sustainable livelihood. India is one of the top 10 nations most impacted by climate change, according to the 2021 Global Climate Risk Index. The nation experiences tropical weather. A humid tropical climate prevails in the northern regions, wet tropical regions can be found near the western coast, and semi-arid over the northwest. Due to the diversity in climatic conditions, and the contribution of human activities to the environment, global warming has a significant impact on the major states of India like Orissa, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattis- garh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. Among these States, Tripura is one of the most affected regions in India. To better understand the impact of climate change at the local level, 300 members of the indigenous population living close to the river banks of Gumti, Muhuri, Khowai, Manu, and Feni were surveyed. Examples have been used to understand how climate change impacts migration. The paper highlights how climate change forces people to move out of their homes and migrate to other places. A ground story from Tripura has been used to show how climatic disasters lead to migration in India. · · · Keywords Climate change Indigenous community Unemployment · Migration Livelihoods 1 Introduction Over time, significant changes in the climate have been documented through geographical records (Milán-García et al., 2021). Since the Earth’s formation, climate change has been an ongoing process. However, this has emerged as a global issue B D. Ghosh ( ) Research Associate, CUTS International, Jaipur, India e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 1 P. Singh et al. (eds.), Global Climate Change and Environmental Refugees, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24833-7_1 2 D.Ghosh in recent years. It has a catastrophic impact on communities’ lives and livelihoods worldwide. Every part of the world today, is experiencing the effects of climate change, including heat waves, severe rains, floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones. Overuse of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas produces greenhouse gases that contribute to an increase in global warming. The production of greenhouse gases increased after the industrial revolution of 1800. Surges in temperature, along with extreme weather conditions, led to the formation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Conference of Parties (COPs) at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 (Jackson, 2007). Following the formation of UNFCCC, 1988 was marked as the year when climate change became an international problem (Brulle, 2018). The shrinking of ice sheets in the Antarctic and Arctic region at a tremendously faster pace brought alertness to the severe impacts of global warming. As a result, at COP 21 in Paris in 2015, 196 parties ratified the Paris Agreement, a global climate change treaty with binding legal force. This Agreement became effective on November 04, 2016, with the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels (Wong, 2022). In addition to being a natural cause, human activity also has an impact on climate change. According to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is a change in the condition of climate that can be detected by variations in the mean and/or the variability of its attributes which lasts for a considerable amount of time, usually decades or longer. Human beings play a very crucial role in altering Earth’s energy balance and climate. Activities like deforestation, construction of dams, and overuse of electricity, have led to an environmental crisis that has changed weather conditions and increased flooding and drought to such an extent that these events occur annually. The drastic and uncertain occurrence of climatic disasters has forced people in the affected regions to migrate to other places in search of sustainability. The direct economic losses from these disasters were estimated to be USD 268 billion in 2020, displacing more than 40.5 million people. The IPCC 2007 report states that the Arctic, Africa, small island groups, and the mega deltas of Asia and Africa are the regions most affected by climate change (Klepp, 2017). 1.1 Who Are the Climate-Induced Migrants? Environmental refugees or climate-induced migrants are people who are compelled to leave their homes because of the unforeseen effects of climate change. The concept of environmental refugees was coined by Lester Brown in 1970 (Panda, 2010). There are two major types of migration that can occur in a country. One is internal migration, and the other is cross-border migration (Kalin, 2010). Migrants moving from rural and coastal areas to urban areas (Wilkinson, 2016) are popularly called internal migrants as they move within the boundaries of a country. More than 23.7 million people worldwide were displaced as a result of the catastrophes of 2021 (IDMC, 2022). China, the Philippines, India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1 AftermathofCalamitiesonMigration 3 Table 1 Push and pull factors of migration Push factors 01. Destruction of livelihood, crops, cattle 02. Damage or loss of household, shelter, properties, and other belongings 03. Unemployment, poverty 04. The constant tension of losing life and family 05. Disruption of education, insecurity 06. Break out of diseases after the floods and rainfall 07. No proper measures by the government regarding embankment, water release from upstream dams 08. Excess economic loss 09. Continuous shifting of river banks Pull factors 01. Better pay and more job opportunities 02. Less risk of losing a life in disasters 03. Access to medical facilities and the necessities of life Source Author’s compiled and Vietnam are the top 5 countries in East Asia, Pacific, and South Asia that face maximum displacement. Looking at countries with the most internal migrants at a global scale, Afghanistan (1.4 million) is the leading country, followed by China, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. When people move from one country to another for better and sustainable liveli- hood opportunities, it is termed cross-border migration. Post-partition in 1947, this type of migration was considered legal in South Asia (Chaudhary & Ghosh, 2021). Cross-border migration gives rise to conflicts, insecurity, discrimination, social exclusion, and other issues. Internal migration and cross-border migration are influenced because of the presence of certain push and pull factors (Table 1). 1.2 Emergence of Asian Mega Cities Megacity is an Ancient word that indicates great, large, and mighty. These cities can accommodate more than 10 million people. The first megacities were set up in Tokyo and Shanghai in the year 1950 (ADB, 2012). By 2010, there were 31 megacities across the globe. Of these 31 mega cities, 17 of them were in Asia (Swerts & Denis, 2015). In 2018, Asia had 26 mega cities, and among these 26 cities, 13 of them are now crowded into densely populated slums that lack basic protective infrastructure. Today, the cities of Asia are connected through roads, rails, and water routes (Swerts & Denis, 2015). It is predicted that by 2025, Asia will be able to accommodate 4 D.Ghosh Table 2 Asian mega cities—growth and projected growth, 1950–2025 (millions) 1950 2000 2005 2025 City Population City Population City Population City Population Tokyo 11.27 Tokyo 34.45 Tokyo 35.3 Tokyo 37.09 Shanghai 4.3 Mumbai 16.09 Mumbai 18.2 Delhi 28.57 Shanghai 13.22 Delhi 15.1 Mumbai 25.81 Kolkata 13.06 Shanghai 14.5 Dhaka 20.94 Kolkata 14.3 Kolkata 20.11 Dhaka 12.6 Shanghai 20.02 Karachi 11.6 Karachi 18.73 Osaka-Kobe 11.3 Beijing 15.02 Manila 14.92 Osaka-Kobe 11.37 Shenzhen 11.15 Guangzhou 10.96 Jakarta 10.85 Lahore 10.31 Source Asian Development Bank Report (2012) 60% of its population. These cities are widely acknowledged as “engines of economic progress” (Dahiya, 2012) (Table 2). 2 Examples of Climate-Induced Migration from Across the Globe 2.1 Central America Guatemala, a town in Central America, experienced no rain for five years. But then, when it rained in 2019, it caused a heavy flood in the region, making people in the region vulnerable. Thousands of Guatemalans fled to the United States, and those who stayed back faced drought, flood, bankruptcy, and starvation. Children were malnourished and chronically hungry. Due to drought and sudden storms, many semiarid parts of Guatemala will soon experience desert climatic conditions. Studies have shown that by 2070 Alta Verapaz and surrounding areas will face a reduction in the yields of staple crops.